A CEO I spoke with recently said she’d like to be inspiring and quotable at her company annual meeting. I agree this is the ultimate goal of any great speaker. Yet the great speaker knows that inspiration begins with a complete mastery of the basics. The pros have the basics down first.
Without an understanding of audience focus, practice, and flexible delivery, it’s hard to be more innovative and still be successful. For the pro, the basics are like brushing teeth in the morning – so ingrained that they no longer take concerted thought. A current example of a pro at the basics is our new President Barack Obama. Most of the time audiences are assured that he’s not going to disappoint them with eye contact, volume, pause, stance and emphasis. These are ingrained and habitual characteristics of the pro.
The creative storytelling, innovative audience engagement and ability to go with the flow all happen well after the basics are mastered.
Master the basics first: research your audience to the absolute best of your ability; craft a talk responsive to that research; practice the talk responsibly; seek feedback on any bad habits you may have developed. Practice it again. The basics will become second-nature. Now you’re on your way to being quotable. What keeps you from mastering the basics as well as you’d like? Let me know!
Thank you Karen; your review packs a punch. You work with and lead women every day and your endorsement is much appreciated. Cyndi
Cyndi – Awesome book and it “needed” to be written. At our mortgage girlfriends mastermind events, I am passionate about women getting the “courage” to speak up. We offer a “toastmasters” type of enviorment where we give them 10 minutes to “speak/practice” to a non-threatening group of their peers. They appreciate the opportunity–and I recommend that they read your book to prep for their talk. Thanks again for writing it. Karen.